Speaking on a visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the foreign secretary said: "We've had chemical weapons used on the streets of Salisbury and chemical weapons used in Syria under Russian patronage and, for the sake of humanity, we need to make sure that we do not turn the clock back on this.

"That is why it is very important that Russia understands the international community is totally resolved on this and anyone who uses chemical weapons needs to know the price will always be too high."

Last month, UK investigators identified two suspects who had links to Russian's military intelligence service, known as the GRU.

The two men appeared on Russia's state-run international broadcaster RT and insisted they were simply tourists visiting Salisbury to see its "famous cathedral and its 123m spire".

On Wednesday, investigative website Bellingcat reported that one of them was a military officer who served in Chechnya and Ukraine and was made a "Hero of the Russian Federation" in 2014.

The honour, bestowed on Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga in a secret ceremony, is typically handed out by Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

In his interview with the BBC, Mr Hunt said counter-action was being taken against Russian military intelligence.

He said it was always going to be possible for a large state like Russia to find a way of issuing fake passports to get such people into Britain but everything possible was being done to prevent abuse of the visa system and visa checks.

Addressing world leaders at the UN on Wednesday, Theresa May criticised Russia for its "desperate fabrication" over the poisoning.

The prime minister accused Russia of "flagrantly breach[ing] international norms" citing "the reckless use of chemical weapons on the streets of Britain by agents of the Russian GRU".

Komsomolskaya Pravda, a pro-Kremlin tabloid, published an online article listing "three reasons" why Chepiga was not involved in the Skripal poisoning, adding that he was not a Russian secret services operative.